Nintendo DS in the Classroom
About a year ago, I worked on a team that was engaged to facilitate and design a feasibility study to teach kids about employment. Our team travelled to 12 different districts, both urban and rural, and had students ranging from grades 4-7 answering questions that dealt with a variety of specific jobs and employment.
My favorite part of the exercise was when the students were tasked to draw their ideal learning channel for employment (i.e. through a dvd, board game, book, computer, etc.) In over half of the cases, the students drew pictures of themselves playing an employment-style game on the Nintendo DS. This past project relates directly to how traditional Japanese learning methods are now being turned upside-down by the Nintendo DS.
One of my relatives, through a series of discussions, has already started a trial project using Nintendo’s Brain Age to test the increase in math learning skills by introducing several DS units into the classroom. I’m still waiting to hear back on the results but it is exciting to see small traces of technology slowly being introduced in the classroom.
